COVINGTON, VA—The Southern Virginia University baseball team pushed its winning streak to seven games on Thursday as the Knights defeated the visiting Eastern Mennonite Royals 17-2 at Casey Field in Covington, Va.

After falling behind 0-1 to Eastern Mennonite (7-16) in the top of the first, Southern Virginia (9-10) claimed the lead in the bottom half of the opening inning on a 2-RBI single by catcher Barrett Price (Georgetown, SC) and never trailed again.

Price finished with a game-high five RBI on three hits and two walks.

But senior outfielder Andrew Snider (Lancaster, Calif.) kept his own pace smashing two home runs and two doubles to drive in three RBI against the Royals. Snider, who has now hit four homers in as many games, finished 4-for-5 at the plate on the evening pushing his average and slugging percentage up to a team-leading .423 and .795 respectively.

The first five hitters in Southern Virginia's lineup knocked in fifteen of the seventeen runs scored by the Knights against Eastern Mennonite.

Both shortstop Mitch Stevenson (Muskogee, Okla.) and third baseman Tyler Cox (Forest, Miss.) drove in two RBI, while first baseman Trager Hintze knocked in three RBI on 4-for-6 hitting.

The Knights also reaped the rewards of excellent defense from their middle infielders, Stevenson and second baseman Robbie Key (Flower Mound, Texas.), who together completed two double plays while Key made a tough, bare-handed grab to throw out a runner in the third inning.

Starting pitcher Tyler King (3-4) earned the win striking out two batters, walking none, and giving up two earned runs in eight innings of work. King's three wins lead all Southern Virginia pitchers and the two earned runs he allowed the Royals marks the fewest the sophomore has allowed this season.

Eastern Mennonite's starting pitcher Andy Ritcher (0-4) earned the loss giving up six earned runs in only two innings on the mound.

Offensively, the Royals had two players, third baseman Justin Rodriguez and center fielder Beau Banglesdorf, with multi-hit games and relief pitcher Joshua Martin drilled a solo home run in the seventh.

Southern Virginia's 23 hits mark a season high for the Knights, who have now scored double-digit runs in five consecutive games.

The Knights have won three straight in their series with the Royals, who have now dropped their last six games.

The Knights look to make it eight straight wins tomorrow as they go on the road to face Lynchburg College, a team which defeated Southern Virginia 4-13 earlier in March, on Friday, Mar. 23 at 3 p.m. EST.